Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Translation Theories and Practices

Taking the period around the May Fourth Movement as an example

Abstract

The period from the Opium War to the 1930s was the third upsurge in the history of Chinese translation. During the same period, the West experienced the European Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and translation activities were also flourishing. These two periods witnessed the remarkable development of translation theory and practice in China and the West respectively. On the Chinese side, Yan Fu's "Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance" and Lin Shu's translation practice are representative, emphasizing the fidelity, fluency and artistry of translation. The West, on the other hand, takes Tytler's "Three Principles" and Dryden's translation theory as benchmarks, focusing on the accuracy, naturalness and elegance of translation. The purpose of this study is to compare these major translation theorists and their theories, to explore the differences and similarities between China and the West in terms of translation standards, translation methods and translation purposes, and to further analyze the historical background, cultural traditions and philosophical concepts behind these differences and similarities. Through historical comparison and document analysis, this paper constructs a clear structure of the paper, from the introduction of the background to the theoretical analysis, and then to the discussion of the reasons, a comprehensive and systematic presentation of the translation theory and practice in the golden age of modern Chinese and Western translation.